The Devil Likes Lady Bugs

Pissed, I went to my travel case sitting by the couch. I kept my cell phone in it while I slept but it wasn’t there.

“Dam you Clay, or whoever the hell you are. Where’s my phone?”

Clay, still sitting at the table, wore a wicked little grin. I went to my seat and glared at him.

“Okay, okay. It’s up there by the pills. I’ll get it,” said Clay.

Following through, he handed it to me. As I checked for missed messages it powered down from lack of a charge.

“Oopsie. I guess the movie I watched drained it eh Migizi?”

“Clay, did my wife really call or not? And you didn’t take that pill. It’s there on the floor,” I said, pointing to it.

“Oopsie.”

“Which part dammit, the pill or about my wife calling?”

“The pill. Come on man, we had a deal. I didn’t run off. I’m alright. Go ahead and call your wife and see if I’m right.”

I went to the phone on the wall and it was dead, plugged in, but dead so I sat back down in a huff.

“Clay, it’s turned off. I had you paid up for a month so what happened? How could my wife have called with the phone dead?”

“Honest Migizi, she did. I don’t know why it’s off now. You know the Rez. Don’t take much to lose power or services. All it takes is the wind to fart. It will come back on soon as the wires flop back the other way.”

“Why do you keep calling me by my proper name?” I asked. “You aren’t talking like your good ole self Clay. How do I know it’s you?”

“Look brother, I know you are gettin’ frustrated and overwhelmed by all this. I want you to know how much I respect and love ya man. That’s all,” said Clay with as innocent a tone as he could muster.

I spotted movement and watched two Lady Bugs crawl to the top of Clay’s right shoulder from his back. They appeared stuck together, side by side, not from reproduction.

]

“Clay, you got bugs crawling on your shoulder.”

He put his left pointer finger up to them and they got aboard. Clay put them on the table and introduced them to me, of course.

“This is Pat and Pat. They’re Siamese twins, well kinda. They’re mutants I think. Damned pesticides. Not sure if they are boy and girl, boy and boy, girl and girl. So anyways, I just call ‘em both Pat and got it covered either way.”

“Androgynous, that’s what people are called who don’t want to be labeled according to gender. They can have both male and female traits and behavior,” I said.

“Yah, whatever Migizi. Jeez, they’re just bugs. Anyhoo, seriously, you should get on home and take care of your missus. I’ll take my pills. You need a break from all this. Hell, even my liver feels good lately. Must be the good medicine of friendship and Pow-Wowing.”

Intuition knocked hard on my spirit and held up a red flag when I paid attention to Clay’s cussing.

 

“Clay, I’m walking to the gas station to use the pay phone. I’ll check in on my wife and decide if I’m staying or going. We text one another every other day. She’s still working you know. She’s always been good about letting you and I have our time.”

Copyright © 2015 Migizi M. New Song. All Rights Reserved.